We have another Arrow announcement! Arrow Video has announced their May titles for the US and UK and I must say we are a lucky bunch. These Arrow announcements are the type of days I live for. It’s like Christmas morning. You never know what you’re going to get, but you always know to expect the best! And Arrow never fails to deliver!

Let’s take a look at those films, shall we?

UK/US Title: Hired to Kill
UK Release Date: May 16, 2016
US Release Date: May 17, 2016
Region: A/B

Synopsis:
NO MAN ON EARTH COULD GET HIM OUT OF PRISON ALIVE. SEVEN WOMEN WILL TRY.

Starring legendary actors Oliver Reed (Gladiator, The Brood) and George Kennedy (The Delta Force and The Naked Gun series), Hired to Kill is an essential slice of ‘90s action fare featuring guns, girls and a plethora of budget-busting explosions for good measure.

Action movie staple Brian Thompson (whose brief turn in 1984’s The Terminator led to a starring role in the 1986 Sylvester Stallone vehicle Cobra) stars as Frank Ryan, a mercenary sent to track down a rebel leader in hostile territory. Posing as a fashion designer, he won’t be going it alone, as he’ll be aided by seven beautiful – but deadly – female fighters.

Whilst the opportunity to see Oliver Reed chewing up the scenery behind an elaborate moustache merits the price of the admission alone, Hired to Kill is also noteworthy as being co-directed by Nico Mastorakis – the man behind such cult favourites as Island of Death and The Zero Boys.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
•Brand new 2K restoration of the film, approved by writer-director Nico Mastorakis
•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
•Original Stereo audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
•Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
•Audio Commentary with editor Barry Zetlin
•Hired to Direct – a brand new interview with director Nico Mastorakis on the making of Hired to Kill
•Undercover Mercenary – a brand new interview with star Brian Thompson
•Original Theatrical Trailer
•Stills Gallery
•Original Freedom or Death Screenplay (BD/DVD-ROM Content)
•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
•Fully-illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by critic James Oliver

UK/US Title: Killer Dames: Two Gothic Chillers by Emilio P. Miraglia
UK Release Date: May 23, 2016
US Release Date: May 24, 2016
Region: A/B

Synopsis:
At the height of the Italian giallo boom in the early 1970s, scores of filmmakers turned their hand to crafting their own unique takes on these lurid murder-mystery thrillers. This limited edition double pack features two distinctive offerings by Emilio P. Miraglia, which meld twisty whodunit narratives with gothic chills.

In The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, troubled aristocrat Alan Cunningham (Anthony Steffen, Django the B*stard), haunted by the death of his first wife Evelyn, tries to move on by marrying the seductive Gladys (Marina Malfatti, All the Colours of the Dark). Marital bliss is short-lived, however, as various relatives meet untimely and gruesome deaths, prompting speculation that a vengeful Evelyn has risen from the grave…

Meanwhile, in The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, an age-old family curse hits sisters Kitty (Barbara Bouchet, Milano Calibro 9) and Franziska (Marina Malfatti) following the death of their grandfather Tobias (Rudolf Schündler, The Exorcist, Suspiria). Every hundred years, so the legend goes, the bloodthirsty Red Queen returns and claims seven fresh victims. Was Tobias just the first… and are Kitty and Franziska next?

With both films making their worldwide Blu-ray debuts in stunning new 2K restorations, there has never been a better time to explore these little-seen giallo gems!

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
•Limited Edition box set (3000 copies) containing The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
•Brand new 2K restorations of the films from the original camera negatives
•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
•Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio (lossless DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray Discs)
•Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
•Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
•Limited Edition 60-page booklet containing new writing by James Blackford, Kat Ellinger, Leonard Jacobs and Rachael Nisbet

THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE
•New audio commentary by Troy Howarth
•Exclusive introduction by actress Erika Blanc
•Writer Stephen Thrower on The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave
•The Night Erika Came Out of the Grave – exclusive interview with Erika Blanc
•The Whip and the Body – archival interview with Erika Blanc
•Still Rising from the Grave – archival interview with production designer Lorenzo Baraldi
•Original Italian and US theatrical trailers
•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

THE RED QUEEN KILLS SEVEN TIMES
•New audio commentary by Alan Jones and Kim Newman
•Writer Stephen Thrower on The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
•Archival introduction by production/costume designer Lorenzo Baraldi
•Dead à Porter – archival interview with Lorenzo Baraldi
•Rounding Up the Usual Suspects – archival interview with actor Marino Masé
•If I Met Emilio Miraglia Today – archival featurette with Erika Blanc, Lorenzo Baraldi and Marino Masé
•My Favourite… Films – archival interview with actress Barbara Bouchet
•Alternative opening
•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

UK/US Title: Blood Bath
UK Release Date: May 30, 2016
US Release Date: May 31, 2016
Region: A/B

Synopsis:
The films of Roger Corman are often as well-known for their behind-the-scenes stories as they are the ones unfolding on the screen. He famously made Little Shop of Horrors in just two days using sets left over from A Bucket of Blood and shot The Terror over a long weekend because bad weather prevented him from playing tennis. But none of these tales is quite so complex, or quite so extraordinary, as the making of Blood Bath.

The saga began when Corman invested in a Yugoslavian Krimi-like picture entitled Operation Titian just prior to it going into production. Insisting it be filmed in English, he sent actors William Campbell and Patrick Magee, and uncredited story editor Francis Ford Coppola (all fresh from Dementia 13), to Dubrovnik to make a US-friendly movie but wasn’t satisfied with the end results. First it was re-cut and re-scored to create Portrait in Terror, a film more in line with drive-in tastes, then it was handed over to Jack Hill (Spider Baby), followed by Stephanie Rothman (Terminal Island), each undertaking reshoots that resulted in a vampire picture by the name of Blood Bath. One final twist was provided when a TV version was required, chopping scenes and adding others to create Track of the Vampire.

For this release Arrow Video has searched through the vaults to bring you all four versions of Blood Bath, newly restored from the best materials available to provide a definitive release of one of Corman’s craziest ventures.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
•Limited Edition collection of the complete ‘Blood Bath’
•High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of four versions of the film: Operation Titian, Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire
•Brand new 2K restorations of Portrait in Terror, Blood Bath and Track of the Vampire from original film materials
•Brand new reconstruction of Operation Titian using original film materials and standard definition inserts
•Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing on all four versions
•The Trouble with Titian Revisited – a brand new visual essay in which Tim Lucas returns to (and updates) his three-part Video Watchdog feature to examine the convoluted production history of Blood Bath and its multiple versions
•Bathing in Blood with Sid Haig – a new interview with the actor, recorded exclusively for this release
•Outtakes from Track of the Vampire, scanned from original film materials
•Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artworks
•Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Dan Mumford
•Limited edition booklet containing new writing on the film and its cast by Peter Stanfield, Anthony Nield, Vic Pratt and Cullen Gallagher